Fight 4 Us (Book 11): Access

by Grenda, Brian

  Shaun and Phil think about the world, the future, and what may happen to them.

  About twenty minutes go by and Phil arrives at the football stadium entrance.

  The stadium entrance is heavily secured with sentries, gun turrets, thick steel gates, cinderblock walls, and several armed military personnel.

  “ID card sir,” says the armed guard to Phil as Phil looks at the guard at the security station at the stadium.

  “I was never given an ID card, but I’m from Channelside and I’m here to see Faith,” replies Phil.

  The armed guard looks at Phil and Shaun and another two armed guards check the back truck bed of Phil’s electric truck.

  “Wait here a minute sir,” says the armed guard to Phil.

  Phil and Shaun look at the armed guards, heavily secured gates and walls, and military personnel.

  “Who the hell lives here? This place is super secure,” says Shaun.

  The armed guard that spoke to Phil talks to another armed guard and both guards look at Phil.

  “I hope Brad told us the right stuff,” says Phil.

  The armed guard comes back over to Phil and asks, “What’s your business here?”

  “Just checking in on things here and are friend Faith,” answers Phil.

  The armed guard looks at Phil and Phil can’t tell if the armed guard is buying his story.

  The armed guard reaches into his chest pocket and Shaun reaches for his handgun that’s in his right thigh holster.

  Phil looks at the armed guard and the armed guard pulls a thick white plastic card out from his left chest pocket.

  Shaun is relieved to see the thick white plastic card and takes his right hand off his handgun.

  “Bring this with you next time and you won’t have to be questioned like this again,” says the armed guard to Phil and then the armed guard gives Phil the thick white plastic card.

  “Faith is usually in the medical tents,” says the armed guard to Phil.

  “Thank you, what’s your name?” asks Phil to the armed guard.

  “Marino,” answers the armed guard.

  The security gate slowly opens, and Phil waits for the gate to fully open.

  “Nice truck,” says Marino to Phil.

  Phil says thank you to Marino and then Phil drives into the crowded parking lot of the football stadium.

  “Man, we are collecting badges, ID cards, and tons of other stuff around here,” jokes Shaun as Phil parks his electric truck in a parking space.

  “Let’s keep our guns in here, as I don’t know if they’ll let us have them inside,” says Phil.

  Shaun puts his handgun in the glove compartment and Phil puts his handgun in the center console.

  Phil and Shaun exit from Phil’s electric truck and two heavily armed soldiers come over to Shaun and Phil to check them out.

  “We have to pat you down before you go inside,” says one of the armed soldiers to Shaun and Phil.

  “Knives allowed in?” asks Phil.

  “No weapons of any kind by civilians,” responds the armed soldier.

  “We have knives on us, but that’s all,” says Phil.

  “No weapons allowed,” says the other armed soldier with an assertive tone.

  “Okay, let us put them inside our vehicle,” says Phil.

  Shaun removes his knife from its sheath and places it on the floor of the passenger seat of Phil’s electric truck and Phil puts his sheath and knife inside next to his handgun inside the center console.

  The armed soldiers pat Phil and Shaun down and one of the soldiers glares at Phil.

  “You are good to go,” says the other soldier to Phil and Shaun.

  Phil sees the armed soldier is glaring at him and that bothers Phil. The two armed soldiers walk away from Phil and Shaun. The armed soldier that glared at Phil before turns around and watches Phil and Shaun walk towards the entrance of the football stadium.

  “That one soldier kept staring at me,” says Phil to Shaun.

  “I guess he liked your blue eyes,” jokes Shaun.

  Shaun and Phil approach the main entrance to the football stadium and Shaun asks, “Now what? Are we going to look for this Faith chick?”

  “Might as well, I’m not sure if we’ll just find Sal or DK easily,” answers Phil as Phil and Shaun enter the stadium and they are overcome by the amount of people, supplies, equipment, and vehicles around the ground level of the stadium.

  Two kids run by Shaun and Shaun sees the two boys running to another group of young children.

  Phil sees some medical tents and trailers and makes his way over to them. Shaun follows Phil and asks, “You seeing this?”

  “Yeah, I’m seeing this. What’s the problem?” answers Phil.

  “There are so many people around here, and they look to be in pretty good shape,” answers Shaun.

  A man, who is limping, exits a large oversized canvas medical tent and he’s helped by a woman.

  Shaun and Phil see the man limping. Phil looks at Shaun and says, “Remember we are looking for Faith and if anyone asks, we’re from Channelside.”

  “Got it,” replies Shaun and then Shaun and Phil enter the large oversized canvas medical tent.

  As Phil and Shaun enter the large medical tent they are smacked in the face by a hodgepodge of terrible smells.

  “It stinks in here,” says Shaun.

  “Can I help you with something?” asks a middle aged woman that is wearing medical scrubs as she is applying a large bandage to a wound on a man’s leg.

  “We’re looking for Faith,” answers Phil.

  The middle aged woman finishes putting on the large bandage on the man’s leg and says, “Keep your wound clean and you’ll be okay.”

  “Thank you Tina,” replies the man.

  Phil overhears the man call the middle aged woman Tina and watches as the man pulls up his pants and Tina removes her rubber gloves.

  “Faith should be right back, she had to check on someone. You two need me to check you out?” asks Tina.

  The man that Tina put the large bandage on exits from the medical tent.

  “No ma’am, we just need to speak with Faith,” answers Phil.

  Shaun notices that the medical tent has several cots, medical tables, and stretchers but they are all empty now.

  “A little quiet in here today?” asks Shaun to Tina.

  Tina cleans off the medical table that the man was on and answers Shaun, “Yeah, but we were swamped a couple days ago. It’s nice to have some quiet around here.”

  A loud commotion is heard outside of the medical tent and a man screaming is heard.

  Shaun and Phil move away from the medical tent entrance and a man is carried into the medical tent by two men and placed on a medical table.

  “What happened?” shouts Tina to the two men that just placed the man on the medical table.

  “He was shot, the bullet is still in his shoulder,” answers one of the men.

  Shaun and Phil watch as they see the two men standing near the medical table and Tina instructs the men to help her with the wounded man.

  “Where the fuck is everyone today?” shouts Tina.

  Just as Tina finishes her statement a woman enters the medical tent and answers, “What’s going on?”

  “He’s been shot,” answers one of the men that carried the wounded man into the medical tent.

  “Step away sir, let me take a look,” replies the woman that just entered the medical tent.

  The woman examines the man’s shoulder and says, “A piece of the bullet is still in there. We gotta get it out.”

  “Please help me, Faith. I don’t want to die,” pleads the wounded man to the woman that is looking at his left shoulder.

  “Tina, can you get me a medical kit, some gloves, and a couple towels?” asks Faith to Tina.

  “How did this happen?” asks Faith.

  The two men that helped the wounded man look at each other, but don’t answer Faith.

  Tina comes ove
r to Faith with the medical supplies that Faith requested, and Faith starts to work on the wounded man.

  “What’s your name?” asks Faith to the wounded man.

  The wounded man answers, “Chip.”

  “Well, once I get the bullet out. You should feel much better. I need your friends here to hold you still, so I don’t hit an artery,” says Faith.

  Faith instructs the two men to hold Chip’s neck, shoulder, and upper body still.

  “This is gonna hurt as we don’t have time for a sedative, but don’t move,” says Faith to Chip.

  Chip looks scared, but he trusts Faith.

  Faith pours some rubbing alcohol into Chips left shoulder wound and Chip screams in pain.

  “I can’t have you scream like that when I go for the bullet fragment,” says Faith.

  “Bite on this,” says Tina as she puts a clean white hand towel in Chip’s mouth.

  Faith says, “I’m going to get the bullet now, stay still for me Chip.”

  Faith moves the small medical tongs towards Chips left shoulder and says to the other two men, “Keep him still for me.”

  The two men adjust their grip on Chip’s body and Faith moves the small medical tongs into the small wound in Chip’s left shoulder.

  Faith digs into Chip’s bullet wound and Chip starts to move away from Faith as he feels pain. “Keep him still!” shouts Faith.

  Faith feels the bullet fragment with the small medical tongs and says, “The bullet is right there, I gotta dig for it, but I can get it.”

  Faith waits for Chip to relax his left shoulder muscles and slow his breathing down. Faith feels Chip relax and then digs her medical tongs deeper into Chip’s left shoulder and then pulls out the bullet fragment.

  “Got it,” says Faith as she looks at the bullet fragment she just pulled out of Chip’s left shoulder.

  “Thank you Faith,” says the man that was supporting Chip’s neck.

  “Can you stitch him up for me Tina?” asks Faith.

  “Yeah, sure thing,” answers Tina.

  Shaun and Phil look at Tina, Faith, Chip, the two men and something feels familiar to them. They feel like they saw a similar situation of what happened with Faith and Chip and the bullet fragment.

  Faith asks the two men again, “How did this happen?”

  The two men don’t answer Faith’s question and Faith gets annoyed by the lack of response. “Why won’t you guys answer me?” asks Faith as she removes her rubber gloves.

  “We snuck out and Chip got shot by the red and whites,” answers one of the men.

  “Red and whites?” asks Faith.

  Tina says, “He’s all stitched up, what else should we do for him?”

  “Give him some pain meds, that shoulder is gonna be sore,” answers Faith.

  “I bet it’s the same group that attacked World of Trade,” says Phil to Shaun.

  “A crazy group that wears all red or white,” says Shaun to Faith.

  “Who are you?” asks Faith.

  Shaun looks at Faith and answers, “I’m Shaun.” Shaun points at Phil and says, “This is Phil and we’re friends of Brad.”

  Faith sizes up Shaun and Phil and gives them a half smile.

  Phil and Shaun don’t know what to make of Faith. They look at her long dark tied back hair, her blue medical scrubs, and her boots.

  “You two can go. Chip will need to stay here for a couple hours,” says Faith to the two men that brought Chip into the medical tent.

  “Will he be okay?” asks one of the men to Faith.

  Faith looks at Chip, who is passed out on the medical table, and answers, “Yeah, he’ll be fine.”

  The two men exit from the medical tent.

  “Can you give us a minute Tina?” asks Faith to Tina.

  “You sure?” asks Tina.

  “Yeah, just need to talk with these two guys privately,” answers Faith.

  “I’ll be right outside,” says Tina and then Tina exits the medical tent.

  Faith looks at Shaun and Phil and says, “I haven’t seen you guys around here. What do you really want?”

  Shaun looks at Phil and doesn’t know how to answer. Phil answers Faith, “We haven’t been here before, but we were sent here to get some information.”

  “About me?” asks Faith.

  “About this place and a couple people here,” answers Phil.

  “Where’d you say you guys were from?” asks Faith.

  Phil can sense that Faith is looking for inconsistencies and he answers Faith, “We didn’t. We just said that we were friends with Brad.”

  “Who are you trying to find out about around here?” asks Faith as Faith walks over to her gear and supplies that are out of view to Shaun and Phil.

  “What’s with the fifty questions lady?” asks Shaun.

  Faith finds her handgun in her belongings and sneakily puts it in the back of her blue scrub pants as she sits down in a chair.

  “I’m just trying to figure out what you two guys that I have never met before really want,” answers Faith.

  A group of people are loudly talking as they walk down a path near the medical tent that Shaun, Faith, and Phil are in. “Let’s get back home, everything looks good around here now,” says an unknown man.

  “Yes DK, are we going back to Sarasota?” asks another unknown man.

  Shaun and Phil hear the people talking and hear the unknown man answer, “Yes, that’s home for now.”

  “That sounds like DK,” says Shaun to Phil.

  Faith sees Shaun and Phil listening to the men talk outside of the medical tent.

  Phil walks towards the exit of the medical tent and he hears the unknown men stop walking and talk to another group of unknown men.

  “How are things at Channelside Sal?” asks the unknown man to the leader of the group of the other unknown men.

  Phil and Shaun look through the small opening of the canvas flaps of the medical tent exit and they see DK and two of his men talking with another man who is standing in front of another group of men.

  Faith takes note of Shaun and Phil’s posture and them trying to see who is talking with each other.

  “How are things with Jacob?” asks the unknown man to DK.

  “If you need anything Sal, you contact me and not Jacob,” says DK.

  “Will do, can your group still provide support around the Tampa Bay waterways?” asks Sal.

  “Yes, just give us some heads up for anything big planned around here,” answers DK.

  Shaun and Phil keep listening to DK and Sal talk and they almost forget about Faith.

  DK and Sal end their conversation and Phil turns towards Shaun and then Phil looks at Faith.

  “Get some good intel?” asks Faith with a half-smile.

  Phil and Shaun don’t know how to answer or if to answer at all.

  “Look, I’m sure you are good guys, but I don’t know you, and I don’t trust you,” says Faith.

  “But we are friends with Brad,” says Phil.

  “I’ll check with Brad, and if I see you again than our interaction might be different,” replies Faith.

  Shaun steps towards Faith. Faith doesn’t like Shaun stepping towards her and she points her handgun at Shaun.

  “I thought you weren’t allowed weapons inside here?” asks Shaun.

  Phil sees Faith’s handgun and says, “Thank you for your time Faith. We’ll be going now.”

  Phil pulls Shaun towards the medical tent exit and they both exit from the medical tent.

  Faith lets out a sigh of relief and looks at Chip’s passed out body and says to herself, “Another crazy ass day around here.”

  CHAPTER 10

  FLANK HER

  “Where the hell is Brad?” asks Shaun to me as I’m talking with Jaws Junior, Phil, and Matt near the front entrance gate of Citrus Oaks.

  “How was the trip to the stadium?” asks Matt.

  Phil answers, “It was interesting. That chick Faith pulled a gun on us.”

  “W
hy?” I ask.

  “She’s nuts that’s why,” answers Shaun.

  “What happened?” I ask Shaun and Phil.

  “We talked with Faith, and we overheard DK and Sal talking while we were in the medical tent with Faith,” answers Phil.

  “Did they see you?” asks Matt.

  “No, we were inside the medical tent when we heard them talking,” answers Shaun.

  “What did they say?” I ask.

  “Something about Sarasota. DK is living there now. Sal and DK knew each other, and Sal wants help from DK with something to do with the water around here,” answers Phil.

  “Everything looks good guys, keep up the good work,” I say to Jaws Junior, Matt, and the rest of the group working on repairing our Citrus Oaks main entrance.

  “Let’s go see if the tracker is working and where DK is,” I say to Phil and Shaun and then I walk down the main street of Citrus Oaks towards Bobby G’s house.

  I enter Bobby G’s house and Shaun and Phil follow.

  Shaun grabs a beer out of Bobby G’s fridge, and I find the tracking device.

  “The tracker looks to have stopped again at a new location. It’s not at the stadium anymore,” I say as I look down at the tracking device.

  “Where is it now?” asks Phil.

  I look closer at the tracking device and say, “It’s around the Ellentown Outlets.”

  “How far is that from here?” asks Shaun.

  “About forty minutes,” I answer.

  “Are we going there next?” asks Phil.

  “What do you think we should do?” I ask.

  Phil answers, “Let’s check in with Brad first.”

  “How do we do that? I don’t think we can just stop over to Channelside,” says Shaun as Shaun sits down in a chair.

  “We’ll have to wait until he contacts us again,” I say.

  “I want to know what’s up with that chick Faith,” says Phil.

  “But good job at the stadium. You guys weren’t gone that long though,” I say to Shaun and Phil.

  “The stadium is well protected, well equipped, and well manned. They have helicopters, hummers, jeeps, and tons of troops and people there,” says Shaun.

  “You think we should go back there sometime?” I ask.